Month: July 2013

Best TeamBuilding and SmartHunts in Meetings Focus Magazine

“We just did a program… where half their group was in Calgary and the other half in New Orleans. They did a hunt together in two countries in two time zones!” – Best TeamBuilding CEO Scott Flynn, as quoted in the article

Last month, Meetings Focus magazine interviewed our CEO Scott Flynn for a piece about how technology has changed the face of team building. The article, written by Paul D. Kretkowski, starts with our trademarked SmartHunts, the only offering which includes an iPad for every team. It discusses the advantages of a paper-free program: it’s more immersive, better for the planet, can change on the fly, automatically uploads media and tallies scores, memorializes the event with photos and videos shot from the team’s iPads, and can incorporate local landmarks or present company knowledge in a fun way.

We are always delighted to get to enthusiastically share what we’ve spent several years developing into the only iPad-based proprietary scavenger hunt around – and why we believe its advantages make it one of the best, most technologically-advanced corporate events on earth!

Fiesta Fun™: Video of the Week

Did you know your group can now add iPads® to the Fiesta Fun!™ program for free? This is already an event that strengthens bonds, builds trust, and forces creative problem-solving as teams compete to craft the best salsa, guacamole, and margaritas/sangria. With the addition of our proprietary SmartHunts App® you get extra high-tech elements like multimedia challenges and live score tracking. Check out this video to see why Fiesta Fun is one of our most exciting offerings!

The Music of Teamwork

“We spend millions of dollars on sports because it promotes teamwork, discipline, and the experience of learning to make great progress in small increments. Learning to play music does all this and more.” –Linda Ronstadt
Whether your music career ended with mandatory recorder lessons in fourth grade or you’re currently a world-class virtuoso, you know that creative collaboration enhances the experience for both the participants and the listeners. In other words, a fifty-person orchestra soaring all at once creates a sound that’s often more powerful than one single timpani player or bassoonist could make on his or her own.

For those in the corporate world, the metaphor is apt: only with a team working in unison, each applying their particular expertise in a prescribed way that works with the whole, can there be harmony. The programs we offer require no skill with a musical instrument, but they do apply this principle to carefully-crafted activities that help team members listen to each other, find their strengths, see where they fit into the big picture, and avoid cacophony. And that’s music to everyone’s ears!

Mural of the World®: Video of the Week

If you’ve never seen the Mural of the World® – or even any one of its individual four-by-eight-foot paintings – in person, this video gives a taste of just how impressive it is. With the signatures of thousands of participants filling the borders of each canvas, this collection is an incredible display of teamwork, philanthropy, and art. There’s simply nothing else like it.

Making Your Team Smarter

“One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain’t nothin’ can beat teamwork.” –Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey may have had a particular target in mind when he said the above quote, but it can, unfortunately, apply almost universally. Any group working together towards one goal is stronger, faster, and more able to get things done than one person could be by himself or herself – but if that goal happens to be wrong-minded or counterproductive, they’re just reaching the edge of the cliff at a brisker pace.

This applies in two ways to what we here at Best Corporate Events offer. First, we’ve assembled a team of some of the country’s most experienced facilitators and program creators to make sure that every exercise participants take part in during our corporate events is actually useful, not just silliness or time-wasting. Your groups truly bond, collaborate, and learn, racing towards a worthwhile outcome. Second, by forging these connections, your team returns to the office better able to communicate and pinpoint problems before they’ve spread, which means you’re less likely to stumble down an incorrect path together. It’s one of the long-term beneficial takeaways from our programs, and we’re proud to say it truly works.

Chili Cook-Off: Video of the Week 2

For teams seeking an upbeat and fun event that brings out the creativity in the participants, Chili Cook-Off is a perfect option. In addition to the freedom each group has to craft their own chili recipe, this video shows some incredibly clever innovations, including teams balancing displays on beer bottles, wine glasses carefully stacked three tiers high as decoration, and even a dollar bill as a fake bribe for each judge! Though of course we make sure the final tally is determined based on merit, everyone’s a winner when teams get to be inventive and resourceful throughout.

Corporate Teamwork in Unexpected Places: Fireworks

“The best teamwork comes from men [or women] who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” –James Cash Penney

Chances are that at some point during last week’s July fourth holiday, you saw some fireworks. Whether live or on television, those exploding balls of color, timed perfectly to a rousing American anthem, are a standard part of this celebratory day. This article in The Chicago Tribune talks about a team you might not have considered while you were oohing and aahing over the display: the pyrotechnics company that puts it all together.

And they’re not just explosion junkies, either. One member of the Melrose Pyrotechnics team, Jon Gesse, has a background in music and carefully puts together the songs that become the soundtrack to the show. Other designers match the timing of each launch precisely to the moment it should fit in – over 2000 times for this year’s show. It takes a thirteen-member team to put together the Navy Pier fireworks display, with a lot of expertise, a lot of teamwork, and, we’d bet, a lot of all the skills our corporate event programs strengthen!

Art of Giving: Video of the Week

Think your workplace has done every possible charitable CSR program? Consider our spectacular Art of Giving program, particularly perfect for teams who are not seeking a physically challenging event. As you can see in the video, our unique process is all but foolproof, allowing participants to have fun and be creative while still producing a beautiful final mural. And when the artwork is gifted to a worthy local hospice or public care facility, everyone wins.

The Importance of a Strong Team

“No man is wise enough by himself.” –Titus Maccius Plautus

Even back in 250BC, Plautus (quoted above) knew that it took a team to move a project, an idea, a civilization forward; no man – or woman – could achieve enough knowledge on his or her own to accomplish it all alone. Has anything changed in the ensuing years? Have centuries of technological advances put us in an era where Plautus’ words no longer hold true? Some might argue that one 21st century man, with the knowledge of the world findable via the phone in his pocket, is wise indeed. But if his Wi-Fi or satellite connection goes out, doesn’t the fact that he can barely remember his best friend’s phone number let alone formulas, translations, or other important data mean that it was the phone, not the man himself, we might consider wise?

It takes a team – usually the one within our workplace, but also the larger network of website contributors – to truly have the combined wisdom required to make important decisions or move society forward. Innovation comes from teamwork. We here at Best Corporate Events are in the business of bringing these teams together, stronger than ever, and we believe doing so leads to strong groups that take big steps. It’s our little way of proudly helping make the world a better place.

Welcome to the BEST blog, a collection of team building articles, industry insights and news about our large collection of programs and events offered in locations across North America.